9 Month Check-Up

I took Zander in for his 9 month check-up this morning and he is growing well.

He is 20.5 lbs, 28 inches tall, with a head circumference in the 85th percentile.

But at least he didn't get a banana stuck in his nose. . .yet. Right, Kylie?

Finally Spring!

It was a nice weekend, but today was absolutely beautiful. We started our day by going up to Mayer to visit Roz, Kevin, and Hazel. Hazel turned one on April 7th and Zoey has had a gift to give her for a while now--so we we finally got together with them. It was fun. Hazel has grown so much! She will be a full blown walker by the end of this week--yep! I'm calling it! When we got home from Hazel's house the sun was shining and it was so nice out--we stayed outside until supper time. Zoey and I started our gardening. We worked really hard at removing all the dead leaves and grass--it was fun to see all the new things growing in the ground. If only I knew what any of it was. Then we took a walk over to Casey Lake Park, played on the playground, walked by the lake, ran the bases on a baseball field. After supper we ended the day with bath time, followed with some quiet playtime on our screen porch. If this is what summer will be like, I'm ready!

Zander had so much fresh air by the end of the day, he barely made it through his bottle.

Here are pictures from our time with Hazel, Roz, and Kevin.

All three kids took a break to sip some water.

How big is Hazel?

Zoey was happy to give Hazel her gift and even more happy to help her open it.

This one is from Saturday night--check out what Zander wants to do! Yikes.

2 Years later. . .a whole minute better!

Just as I stated at New Year's my goal this year was to start running and run some 5ks. Today was my first one this year. I ran the Cemstone 5K Run for Others to benefit Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. My time was 33 mins. 8 sec. (Two years ago when I ran my very first 5k ever in -31 degree weather it was 34 min. 45 sec.) So I have a ways to go--my goal for my next 5k is under 30 minutes.

He Sits!

Above is proof that if we take our eyes off him for a minute he will explore just about anything.
And below is proof that Zander is finally taking some time to sit and relax.

The train set is the biggest attraction for Zander.

On a different note, I wanted to document some of Zoey's recent insights on God. After a dinner party we hosted for some friends a few weeks ago, Zoey listed the houses that she wanted to go to next. She wants to go to Kylies' house, Kiera's and Aiden's house, Sean's house and God's house. We told her that we would need to wait for an invitation for most of those, but we can always go to God's house. Zoey has asked to go to church every Sunday since. (Good for her!)

I honestly can't remember how this next statement came to be, but Zoey told me one night that "God came to us as a yittle, yittle cute baby. Then he grew up to be very, very, very, very BIG!"

Last night Tyler and Zoey were reading bedtime books and Zoey told Tyler, "God takes broken people and fixes them."

The Pants With No One Inside Them

That's right. Zander literally crawled out of his pants today and right into the kitchen. He became fascinated with the fridge magnets and just had to have them!

He is also enjoying playing rough with daddy.

Zoey on the other hand (still loves horse roughing with dad) but is also getting ready to be an actress/dancer/baker/teacher/princess. . .here are the head shots.

Show me happy. . .

Now show me surprised. . .

Show me sad. . .

Alright. . .now show me scared!

That about covers it at our house for know. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Zander Walks!!!

Last week was beautiful! Zoey had a blast playing outside. Then March left us with yotsa yotsa snow! Today was another beautiful day--so when I brought the kids home from daycare, Zoey and I stayed outside and made a "teacher snowman." Zoey didn't quite get the hang of rolling a snowball (all though she is very good at eating it), so I gave her the job of finding rocks to make the face, since we didn't have any carrots on hand. She handed me rocks for the eys and mouth. Then she went back and got a rock for the eyebrow. The last rock she handed me was for the hair and as she did she said, "This will about do it." Such a little adult! (I am preparing myself for the devastation that she may have tomorrow that her teacher snowman has melted. . .but I tried to preempt that today.)


Zander is 8 months and we consider him to be a crawler--or at least mobile! (April Fools for those of you who thought that this blog title was true.) He can definitely get from point A to point B--quickly! He can find every small thing on the floor that mommy and daddy should have picked up. He can not sit by himself for very long--I think it is more because he knows that sitting means he stays in one place and he likes to be on the move.

Zoey has been such a sweet big sister lately. Tonight Zander started crying and Zoey stopped what she was doing and went over to Zander saying, "It's alright Zander, I'm here." She caresses his head and hugs her in that almost too tight sort of way--it is really sweet.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came today and left baskets of stuff for the kids. Included was sunglasses and garden supplies--as the Bunny knows that I want to plant a garden with the kids this summer. Most of our day today was spent driving back from Grand Forks where we were able to spend time with family and friends. Thanks Lisa and Josh for having us over on Saturday. It wore the kids out just enough for them to nap on the way to Kylie's birthday party! And it was great to see you today, Vanessa! I enjoyed meeting Owen. He is so cute!

Zander stealing a few Easter eggs.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. They are all from Kylie's 2nd Birthday party. Zander didn't really realize what was going on, but Zoey sure had a good time.

Kylie had a blast with all the balloons that her mom had placed around the house. Here she is running through them all.
We of course had to try to get a picture of all three together. This one is the best one I got.

Uncle Robby and Zander.

Zoey was really into all of Kylie's gifts--especially the tricycle that she got. Zoey did her best to take turns with her cousin. There were only a few fits thrown.

Here is Zoey singing happy birthday to Kylie and waiting for her piece of cake.

Grandpa and Zander.

The rest of the weekend was great. Tyler and I sneaked away a couple evenings and went out to eat and went bowling (I just have to brag a little that I got 4 strikes in a row!)

Spring Break is now over and everything will be getting back to normal. We are all feeling better. And just an FYI- I have been cleared by the doctors from my blood clotting issues--so I don't have any more blood tests or medications to worry about.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Spring Break

Yes, I know! It has been almost a month since my last post. But in all honesty, had I posted earlier you would only see pictures of snotty noses, kids coughing, and a mommy with the flu! It has been a tough March as far as health. I basically started my Spring Break last week when I stayed home a total of four days from work because of Zoey, Zander, and myself in some sort of combination. I still have the sniffles and a cough, but for the most part we are all on the mend.

Zoey has been able to play outside a few times during the nice weather.
Zander got all decked out for St. Patrick's Day yesterday.
Today Zoey and I had our special day out on the town. We had "yotsta, yotsa, yotsa fun!" We ventured out to the Children's Museum and spent a lot of time wandering around looking at the exhibits. Zoey really enjoyed all the interactive things there.

We made a hat with newspaper.

She played happily in the bubbles.

She explored all the water and pipes.

Stopped for a quick game of chess. Zoey won.

Zoey was absolutely fascinated when she got to be on TV with Elmo.

A quick wellness check and we were done.

We ended our day by going to Grand Ave. for a short bit and looking around at a toy store. So many neat things. Both Zoey and I are exhausted, but I love doing special things like today with the kids. Zander stayed at daycare and had a wonderful day himself.

The rest of my srpring break is pretty busy. Tomorrow I am going to Bon Jovi, then on Thursday the family is heading up to Grand Forks to visit family and friends. Zoey is super excited that we get to go to Kylie's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. We are looking forward to it!

Zander is 7 Months Old

Zander turned 7 months yesterday and he is learning and doing new things all the time. Above is one of his portraits taken last week. (He was too sick at 6 months with his cold to take pictures then.) Below he took time out of his busy schedule to stick his tongue out at the camera. He loves that tongue at the moment.

I know it is a still shot, but below you can see another one of Zander's new skills. He likes to rock on his hands and knees.

Zoey wanted to take a picture with her and Zander sitting together. But until today, sitting hasn't been one of Zander's favorite things to try. Here is a string of attempts and then the best that we could get before Zander wriggled away from her again.

Zoey models mommy's high heel boots.

Then this picture was taken just today. He is starting to get the hang of sitting. He stayed here long enough for me to get the camera and everything. Then he toppled over again--but it is a start!
Zander is eating lots of 1st foods now. On the menu are bananas, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, applesauce, and peaches. He loves his food.